Manipulation
by TheGravityQueen
Summary: Ryou and Malik are demon hunters, and during an exorcism, something goes horribly wrong. Maliks soul is lost, and a demon has inhabited his body, a demon that Ryou has no idea how to deal with. While searching for a way to save his friends soul, he is being manipulated by forces he and the demon don't even understand. Deathshipping AU. ON HIATUS/BEING REWRITTEN
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Yay, more deathshipping! Or at least I plan for it to be. I'm not entirely sure how to go about doing this one, but it's going to borrow some things from the show Supernatural (not plot wise, but more like trivia-wise). But this is NOT crossover, however. This chapter is also just a prologue, so I'm sorry for it being short. Also, I plan on drawing a cover for it later. (I still think the cover system is really dumb, though.)

Reviews are **always** appreciated!

* * *

Ryou sighed, sitting cross-legged on the concrete floor of the apartment building, or, well, basement of the abandoned apartment building. He had already done all he was supposed to do; he drew the arcane symbol on the floor. The Devils Trap, as it was called. He had only done it a few times before though, so he was glad Malik had copied the symbol down on a slip of paper for him.

Speaking of Malik...

He turned to face the doorway, seeing the tanned one coming in. It had taken forever, being alone in the room with the demon had been, to say the least, nerve-wracking.

"It took you long enough." Ryou muttered; sounding exasperated. Malik simply rolled his eyes, and Ryou got up off the floor.

"It's not my fault you left our shit back in the hotel room." Malik growled, tossing the duffel bag to Ryou. He caught it, and huffed, setting it down onto the floor and unzipping it.

"Has it done anything?" Malik questioned, walking towards the edge of the Devils Trap, sending a mocking smirk in its direction. The demon glared, its black eyes full of malice. Malik merely chuckled, turning back to face Ryou. Ryou shrugged and shook his head.

"No, not really." He said, standing up with the book and a few other things, which he placed in his pockets. He stooped over to zip the back bag up again, not that he needed to however- just out of habit. "Did you want it to?" He raised an eyebrow. That did raise a good point though... usually the demons at least yelled, or talked a bit more.

"It doesn't matter, Ryou." He sighed, walking back over. "Just start reading already so this bastard can get out of here." Ryou pouted slightly, flipping open the book and slowly changing it to the correct page.

Ryou began to read, and the demon reacted almost immediately, screaming, yelling and laughing. Malik glared, walking closer towards the trap, looking down on the demon. The pale one flicked his eyes towards Malik, but continued to read. The demon continued to laugh. Malik reached through, grabbing the body of the demon by the collar of his shirt.

"What are you laughing at?" He snarled down at it, his lilac eyes flashed in annoyance. Ryou paused, marking his place with his thumb as he started to walk forward. Maliks head snapped to look in his direction. "What are you doing? Keep reading!"

"Malik!" Ryou yelled, as the demon slammed his hands onto Maliks face, the skin glowing with odd symbols. Malik screamed, being forced on his knees from the pain, the demon began to laugh again, curling its nails into the side of his face. The dust that had settled on the floor started to kick up, whirling around the two inside of the trap. Malik's screams had stopped, but he was struggling now. His hands clawed at the demonic ones, even as blood started to come from his eyes and nose. Ryou had run back towards the back, searching through it desperately until he came upon what he needed.

He pulled out a long knife, and unsheathed it. The silver glimmered almost unnaturally as Ryou rushed towards the demon, wrapping one arm around its neck as he stabbed the demon through the chest. It released Malik, and staggered backwards as Ryou twisted it, pulling it out once Malik fell to the floor. Ryou pushed the body off of him, rushing to the unconscious Malik.

"Malik! Christ..." Ryou wiped the blood off his partners face with the sleeve of his jacket. He placed his hand over Malik's mouth, to check if he was still breathing. Ryou let out a relieved sigh. He slowly stood,

A thin coil of smoke started to come out of the dead body that Ryou stabbed, seeping out from the mouth, nose and eyes. It hovered over the two, before angling quickly and descending onto Malik's body.

Ryou was flung back, his back hitting the wall on the other side of the room, and he landed on the floor; the breath knocked out of him. Long forgotten papers and dust began to whirl violently around the room, as the demon latched onto Malik's body. Ryou's hair whipped in his face as he attempted, in vain, to stand.

Where Malik was lying, a small wisp like substance, light purple, slightly translucent, floated above him. Ryou widened his eyes, but his yells were lost in the wind. Human souls were not supposed to be visible. Ryou was so confused... why was this happening? It was just an exorcism! This should have stopped the moment he killed the demons host body!

He growled slightly, slowly making his way to Malik, crawling against the floor. He yelled again, desperately hoping that Malik would hear him. However, Ryou stopped, frozen as a small tear appeared, out of nowhere, it seemed.

"The hell..." Ryou gasped, as it grew larger, and he could see into it now.

Whirling within the depths of the crack... was nothing, just a pure, empty void. Even though he only saw a small part of it, Ryou felt unending dread fill him. Out of it, slowly, dregs of smoke began to pour out, and then they began to fly out, up and out of the staircase, the only way out of the basement.

Demons. Ryou's eyes widened in surprise, and then narrowed with rage. No wonder trapping that one took so little work. He was just bait. They were just using him and Malik to open... whatever the hell that was.

As soon as all of this had started, everything just dropped. Papers fluttered back down onto the ground, and the dust began to settle. Ryou rushed over to his friend, not even bothering to stand up. He knelt down.

"Malik? Malik!" Ryou yelled, shaking his friend by the shoulders. He looked around the room quickly. The soul... where had it gone? Malik gasped under him, and he quickly turned back. "Malik... Christ..." He sighed. He almost wanted to give him a hug, but he also wanted to punch him. Either would end up with a pissy Malik. Ryou opened his mouth to say something, but... Malik had started to laugh.

This wasn't Malik.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I drew a cover for the story, yeah! And, oh wow, thank you everyone for your kind words! It really gets me pumped to write when I hear so many people like it. So here is the next chapter, enjoy! Reviews are always welcome, and if something seems off, please just let me know, so I can fix it.

* * *

Ryou had enough sense to start backing up away from 'Malik'. He stumbled to his feet, glaring as 'Malik'- no, the demon stood. It was looking at its hands, chuckling as it slowly ran a hand through its hair, causing it to stand up in a large, wild mess. Ryou's eyes flicked over to his knife, the one he had used to kill the first demon. It was lying down next to the body.

He made a mad dash for it, and reached for it when he was close enough. He grabbed it, before being thrown by an unknown force into the wall, shoulder first. He let out a yell. His shoulder... damnit. It was broken or dislocated or something...

The pressure went from his chest to his throat, cutting off his air. He gasped, kicking at the air and squirming. He heard footsteps, and tried his best to turn his head, glaring at the demon that now possessed his friends' body. It smirked, and Ryou could see the veins around his face protruding slightly from the skin. The pressure on his throat suddenly vanished, and Ryou slid to the ground, gasping for breath as he grabbed his throat with his working hand. A shoe slammed down on his head, forcing his face to smash into the concrete, and Ryou snarled.

"I suppose I should thank you..." Said the demon, its voice so similar to his friends and yet so obviously different, so much darker. "For being stupid enough to fall for that." His heel dug into Ryous temple, causing a sound of pain from the other. "You humans..." He laughed again.

The foot was replaced with a hand, dragging Ryou up by the hair. He had knelt down and grinned at Ryous bloodied face. Their faces were close, and Ryou glared. His eyes were pure black, and he ran a finger from his cheek to his chin. Ryou growled, using his free hand to shove the blade of his knife under the demons chin, puncturing it lightly. The demon glared as blood began to run down the blade.

"You wouldn't kill your friend, would you?" One of its eyebrows raised in questioning. Ryou scowled, spitting in the demons face. The demon gave a growl, letting go of Ryou's hair to wipe the spit off his face.

Ryou flipped the knife around in his hand, punching the demon in the side of the face. He stood as quickly as he could, kicking him in the chest and sitting on the demon, knees on the demons arms.

"Get out of him." Ryou hissed, holding the knife at the demons throat. "Get _out_ of him." The demon did nothing but laugh. Ryous eyes narrowed as he pressed the knife, causing a thin line of blood to appear.

"So you _do_ want him to die." Was the demons response, cracking a grin.

"What?" He paused, the glare on his face faltered. "What do you mean." He demanded. Wishing he could wipe the blood from his face, as it dripped onto his shirt.

"You mean you can't figure it out?" The demon smirked, and the veins in his face came forth once again. "Your friends soul is gone. If I leave, the body will die." He said with a haughty tone. Ryou bit the inside of his cheek.

"You're lying." Ryou accused. The demon smirked yet again.

"Am I?" His voice was mocking; it knew Ryou wouldn't try anything.

Ryou, however, knew there was something he could do. Something he really wish didn't have to happen. He'd only done it once before, when they needed a demon to spill information. A blood pact.

Before, when they did it, Malik would have none of that, for whatever reason. Ryou didn't push. But after they had done it... it was horrible. For weeks after they had exorcised the demon, Ryou had nightmares and hallucinations. Such things are to be expected when one unknowingly exposes oneself to a demons power.

To Ryou, however, this seemed like a very viable option at the moment. He moved the knife in his working hand, quickly setting to work on trying to recreate the glyph on the exposed shoulder of the demon.

"What are you..." It hissed, eyes narrowing as Ryou flipped the blade, slicing open his own palm. He smeared his blood across the glyph, and bit his tongue. The demon let out a cry, and Ryou could feel the pain shooting up his left arm. "What did you do!" The demon snarled, getting one hand free and grabbing Ryou by the hair, yanking him off.

Ryou growled as the demon placed its hands around his throat, trying to squeeze the life out of him.

"Stop." Ryou said simply, and the demon froze. His hands loosened around Ryous neck and placed him down on the floor, glaring the entire time. Ryou nearly let out a sigh... it had worked. He could see the demons fists shaking in rage, at being controlled by a human, no less.

Ryou glared up at him, and he could very clearly see veins starting to appear on the upper parts of his arms. Blood had begun to run down the arm he had cut, staining the golden armbands.

"What did you do." It hissed. Ryou turned, walking over to gather up the duffel bag that Malik had thrown to him earlier. The demon growled. "Answer me!"

"We're leaving."

* * *

Getting back to the hotel had been heard enough. It certainly didn't help that the demon had decided to glare like there was no tomorrow, as it unwillingly followed Ryou.

Getting the door open was hard enough as it as well; he threw the duffel bag into a corner, and made a beeline for the bathroom. He heard the door close behind him, and assumed the demon closed it.

He let out a relieved sigh as he closed and locked the bathroom door, leaning against it and sliding down, until he sat upon the floor. He hissed, grabbing his dislocated arm with his working hand, trying to put it back into place.

There was a pop, and Ryou let out a cry as his shoulder was set back in place. He lifted his right hand, hissing as pain shot up his arm. At least he could move it now, though.

He looked at the palms of his hands, feeling a bit more disgusted than he should have. His blood had dried on his left hand, and was caked on; his right was covered in cuts and scrapes from being flung around that room.

He stood, looking at himself in the mirror that hung on the wall.

His face had a few cuts and bruises, and his bottom lip was broken in two places. Blood had suck to his white hair and stained it, and had also dripped onto his shirt. He knew that this 'business' could be messy, but he really hadn't expected this much blood. He sighed, pulling off his jacket and shirt, throwing the articles of clothing on the floor. He'd have to clean them some other time.

Ryou reached in towards the shower, flipping the water on with the flick of his wrist. What he really needed was a shower, and some time to think. He removed his pants and boxers, flinging them off to the corner with the rest of his clothing, including his trainers and socks.

Slipping into the shower, he let out a sigh as the water burned at his skin. It was hot, yes, unbearably so, but it was welcome. He pressed his forehead against the cool plastic of the shower wall, letting out a sigh as he gathered his thoughts.

Malik's soul was missing, and a demon now possessed his friends' body. Ryou had completed a blood pact with the unwilling demon, and now the demon had to listen to him- for the most part.

Now he needed information. What was that tear? What had even happened... He sighed, grabbing a bar of the cheap hotel soap and scrubbing down his bloodied self. He didn't really have any shampoo, but he tried to clean the blood out of his hair as best as he could. Even after he was done with that, he didn't really want to get out of the shower, and he really didn't want to go back out there to deal with... whoever had possessed Malik.

Once he was done, the water had cooled down considerably, leaving him almost shivering as he turned off the water. He wrung his hair out, making it into a wet ponytail as he tried to remove all the excess water. Sometimes he really hated having longer hair, but he refused to get it cut. He stepped out of the shower, his feet stepping on the tacky hotel rug.

He reached for the towels, loosely wrapping one around his waist and placing another on top of his head. It wasn't much but he really didn't feel like exerting the extra energy to bother and dry himself off. The water would evaporate away, anyway.

Reaching forward, he gripped the doorknob, opening the door. He rolled his eyes for a moment; he'd have to collect his clothes in the morning. He moved quickly to his bed, one hand holding the two ends of the towel that was handing on his head, the other keeping up the towel around his waist. His eyes didn't even flick to look at the demon.

His hand let go of the ends of the towel on his head, pulling back the covers on the hotel bed, as he slipped inside of its scratchy- yet welcomed embrace. He just wanted to sleep. He didn't care there was a demon in the room, like it could do anything to him at this point.

He lay there for some time, his eyes eventually fluttering closed under the blankets.

* * *

He wasn't aware whether or not he was dreaming at this point. For some reason, he was walking, walking into impenetrable darkness. There were no sounds of footfalls, the silence was suffocating him, and he wanted to yell and scream. But he knew... he couldn't do so.

There was something after him.

His pace began to quicken, and he ran. Further into the darkness, further into the unknown. He ran, he could hear his blood rushing in his ears; his breath was quick and frantic as he nearly tripped over his own feet. There was someone ahead of him, and he called out. It was a child.

"Hey!" He yelled, before the ground gave out from under him, causing a cry of fear to escape from him as he fell. He hit the dark ground, letting out a grunt as he lay there. There some something warm spreading from his chest, and he looked down, a shock shooting through his body as he found he was impaled through the heart with a pair of scissors. He attempted to grab the handle of them, and yank it out, for some reason, even unknown to him. Pain flooded his body as he screamed, and unearthly scream.

His head hit the ground again, and his eyes widened, standing above him was the child. Its eyes dark and demon-like as it gave a smile and knelt near Ryous head, holding another pair of scissors. Why did this child seem so... familiar?

He was about to ask, before the child stabbed Ryou through the eye.

* * *

Ryou woke with a start, his hands immediately going towards his chest, and his eyes. Everything was there; nothing was being stabbed through him, thankfully. His eyes narrowed at a thought. The nightmares were already starting then. If they got to far along, he wouldn't be able to do much, let alone try and save his friend.

"I need to go see Mai." He murmured under his breath, moving under the blankets that had been unceremoniously messed up. He pulled them back over his body, curling into a ball.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Not much to say about this one other then I tried to make it rather long. Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

After he had woken up the first time, Ryou was glad that he was able to get about two hours of sleep that night. He grumbled, sitting up in the bed. The clock on the nightstand blared its bright red numbers. Seven thirty-one, it read. He turned his head, looking for the demon.

It was sitting in a chair, looking out the window. In the early morning light, Ryou almost mistook it as Malik, were it not for its crazy, wild hair. He almost gave a chuckle, as he would have expected the demon to have changed out of Malik's... rather effeminate clothing. The demons' disinterested eyes flicked to look at Ryou, holding a stare. Ryou narrowed his eyes, glaring into the pupil-less violets. It broke once Ryou stood up from the bed, trying to keep the now dry towel around his waist as he made his way back into the bathroom. His clothing was still there, after all. He honestly didn't care if the demon stared at him, it couldn't do anything now.

He picked up his bloodied shirt off the ground, giving it a frown. It was a shame; he liked this shirt. He gave a sigh, folding the white shirt and placing it on the bathroom counter. His pants were still good, though, thankfully. He pulled on his undergarments and jeans, making little weird jumps as he tried to pull his pants up all the way. He folded his bloodied and ripped jacket and placed it with his shirt, and gathered his shoes and socks. Hanging up the towels, he turned off the light and left the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

The demon was now lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Ryou gave him a strange look, throwing his bloodied clothing down on the floor next to his one and only suitcase, his shoes followed. He sat on the floor, unzipping the suitcase and digging through it. He pulled out a blue and white striped shirt and shrugged, pulling it over his head and pulling out his hair that got caught in the back. When he stood, he nearly jumped, as the demon had moved and now sat on his bed, staring at him. Ryou didn't even hear him move. He clutched the black coat in his hands slightly as he glared for a moment.

"Are you trying to kill me?" Ryou asked, narrowing his eyes. The demon gave a laugh.

"Oh believe me, I would be, if I could." It answered, giving Ryou a sly smirk with a murderous glint in its eyes. Ryou felt a shiver pass through him.

"...Whatever." He turned, pulling the long coat onto himself. He didn't necessarily like the coat, but it was given to him by a rather kind vampire, so he thought he might as well use it every once and a while. Even more so seeing as he was going to go see her today, as well. "Bloody demon..." He huffed under his breath.

"I'd prefer it if you called me by a name, rather then that." The demon said, and Ryou could hear the disdain in its voice.

"What would you rather me call you then, a parasite?" He hissed out, walking to the other side of the room and picking up the duffel bag, pulling out his knife and a pistol. He could hear the demon give a growl in his direction as he checked the clip.

"What was your partners name?" The demon asked, raising a blonde eyebrow. Ryou gave a confused look to the demon. Why did it care?

"Malik." Ryou answered, fishing out the holster for the gun. _Not that I'd ever call you that, demon. _Ryou thought to himself.

"Figures." The demon rolled his soulless eyes, letting out an exasperated noise.

"Why do you...?" Ryou let the question hang there, more confused than angry at this point. He shook his head and secured the holster to his belt, slipping the gun inside of it. "I'm not going to call you that, if that's what you're insinuating."

"Mariku will have to do, then." The demon said, his eyes downward as he looked at the lilac top he was wearing. Its eyes narrowed in visible disgust.

"What? Uh..." Ryou's eyes narrowed in even more confusion, turning his head and gathering up his things. "Okay, fine, sure." He really didn't care. He just wanted to get out of here and get to Mai. She would be way more helpful then... this guy.

"Where are you going." He- Mariku- whatever, asked, or more fittingly, demanded. It pulled the shirt off of himself, flicking it to the ground. Ryou didn't pay attention to this.

"Out. You're not coming with me." He replied, placing the knife in his jacket. Bringing a demon into the bar would end rather badly. Mariku rolled his eyes, and Ryou turned and left from the hotel room.

* * *

Ryou was rather glad that the bar was not that far away. Maybe a couple blocks or so, the walking wasn't that bad and he was glad for the chance to clear his head. The crisp morning air was good for something, he supposed. Hopefully Mai would be awake, even if it was early in the morning. Maybe he should have waited until later, when she would just be waking up, instead of just now starting to want to go to sleep... but he really didn't want to spend any more time near the demon then he absolutely had to.

He opened the door to the bar, the smell of alcohol hit him full force. He didn't drink, so his nose scrunched up. Making his way to the area closest to the bar, happy to see familiar brunette hair. Hell, Ryou was just happy to be inside a familiar environment, with people he knew wouldn't try to kill him, for the most part, anyway. The bar was an unspoken 'safe zone' of sorts, for anyone, hunters, demons, vampires, and angels, even- anything that could pass as a human on a daily basis. However, once out of the bar, you had to go back to watching your back. Ryou knew this well.

The brunette turned around, her blue eyes shining brightly as she saw a familiar face.

"Ryou! Where's Malik?" She looked around for a moment, giving Ryou a raised eyebrow. Ryou let out an inward sigh.

"I need to speak to Mai, Anzu." She pouted slightly at Ryou's avoidance of the question.

"I don't even get a hello? Rude." She huffed, leaning over the counter. "Mai is about to go to sleep, you know. You should have come earlier."

"I... I know, Anzu." He sighed yet again, "I just... had some problems."

"What, did you and Malik get in a fight or something?" She asked, grabbing a dirty glass and a clean rag.

"Something like that, yes. But I really need to talk to Mai." As nice of a girl that Anzu was, and she really was, sometimes she dragged conversations out of him a little to often. She nodded, yelling at Jounouchi to cover for her as she went into the back room. Her head stuck out a few minutes later, waving Ryou over.

"You're lucky she's still awake." She mumbled, going back over to the counter. He nodded in thanks and made his way into the room.

If the smell of alcohol was bad enough, he was hit with a wall of incense and perfume when he entered the next room. Even though he had been here many times, the smell still was overpowering. Mai lay sprawled out on a love-seat type couch, one arm over her eyes as she gave a groan. On her right was a desk with many screens and hidden computer equipment. On her left, on a bedside table, sat many wine glasses and a half empty bottle of red wine. Waves of purple fabric covered the walls.

"Couldn't this have waited until later?" She snapped, looking at Ryou with red tinged violets. She sat up, fixing her white bodice and lilac jacket. She crossed her legs and waited for an answer from the white haired one.

"No, I'm afraid not." He said, scratching the back of his head. He heard Mai give a sigh, and he shifted his eyes, trying not to look directly at her. As helpful and kind Mai could be, she was also rather intimidating.

"Well, what is it then?" Her tone was the same, and she reached for the bottle of wine.

"Malik's been possessed and-" He began, giving a small pout when he was interrupted.

"That's it? Can't you take care of that yourself?" She gave Ryou a strange look.

"That's just it, I can't. In the middle of the exorcism the demon attacked him and now his soul is... I don't really know, but it's not in his body." Ryou grumbled.

"And how do you know that?" She raised an eyebrow. "Did the demon tell you that?"

"...Maybe." Ryou mumbled, and Mai let out an exasperated sigh and he could hear her slap her hand against her forehead.

"And you believe him?" Mai asked, pouring out a glass of the wine and taking a sip.

"I don't want to, but... I saw Malik's... soul, I guess." Mai raised a brow.

"How? Ryou, you need to start from the top." She said, motioning for Ryou to sit down in a seat diagonally from her.

* * *

"You're kidding me." She grumbled, flopping back onto her couch once Ryou had finished explaining everything that had happened. "How do you manage to lose a human soul, set loose a shit ton of demons, and sign a contract with a demon all in the time of twenty-five minutes?" Her voice had begun to rise. "This isn't exactly what I want to hear before trying to sleep, Ryou!"

Ryou looked down.

"I just... I just need to know how to get back Malik's soul, that's all." He opened his mouth to say more, but he was cut off.

"And then what? What are you going to do about all those demons you let loose? What are you going to do about the demon that's possessing Malik?" She huffed, glaring at him. Her eyes had turned red at this point, from the wine and the anger she felt.

"I'll deal with that. I'm not the only hunter out there, Mai. I'm not going to be the only one who's going to have to deal with all the demons." He said, rising out of the chair. "Just please, help me find out, okay?" Mai gave Ryou a roll of the eyes.

"I'll see what I can come up with. I'll have to contact Kaiba, and I'll tell Anzu and Jou to keep their ears open. That's all I can do, honey." She replied. "You might have you wait a few days or weeks, though... this is a really specific problem, Ryou."

"That's enough. Thank you, Mai." She nodded, lying back down. "Can I stay in the bar area for a while, though? I don't... really want to go back to the hotel just yet." Mai let out a small giggle at the look on Ryou's face.

"Yes, I suppose. You'll have to buy something, though." She smirked, looking at Ryou's pouting face. "What? Even with all you've done, I can't let you stay for free." Ryou sighed, walking towards the door and leaving the room. He walked back into the bar, and there were more 'people' in the area as well. He sat down in the corner area of the bar, and Anzu walked back over.

"So?" She asked.

"So...?" He repeated, raising a brow. She rolled her eyes and looked back at Ryou.

"Is she going to help you? Even if you did wake her up?"

"Oh. That. Yeah." He nodded. "Can I stay here for a while? Mai said I had to buy something though..." He asked, hoping that Anzu would be more likely to let him stay for free.

"Why?" Ryou pouted slightly, furrowing his brow. "Oh, right. Malik." She nodded. "Yeah, I don't see why not. It's not like _you_of all people drink, don't know why she would say that."

"Yeah, look, you don't mind if I fall asleep here or something do you?" He asked.

"No. But I will have to wake you up before closing time, alright?"

"Thank you, Anzu." He mumbled out, placing his arms on the bar table surface, placing his head in his arms.

* * *

There was a poking sensation in his side. He really didn't want to get up. He raised his head slowly from the wood surface of the bar, blinking a few times and trying to adjust his eyes to the dim light, at least this time he didn't have any nightmares, he actually got some sleep.

"About damn time, Ryou." Ryou groaned, placing his head back in his arms.

"Jou... Please just let me go back to sleep." He whined, kicking his legs back in forth. He really didn't want to go back to the hotel.

"No. C'mon dude, you gotta go." Jounouchi huffed, hitting Ryou on the head with a damp towel he held in his hands. "We're closing soon, Anzu already left. You need to get up." Ryou whined again and Jounouchi rolled his eyes, hooking his arms under Ryou's armpits and yanking him out of the chair. Ryou huffed.

"No need to do that, Jou." He mumbled, standing up and dusting himself off. Him and Jou were friends, in a sense, but they weren't exactly _close._He checked to make sure he had everyone on him before walking out of the bar. He grumbled, running a hand through his messy hair. He really didn't want to go back to the hotel. He didn't even want to think about what the demon could have done while he was gone.

He turned the corner, cutting through the space of two buildings in order to get to the hotel quicker. Just thinking about what it could have done made him anxious. Its not like he had any money, either. Malik was the one with all the money. He didn't think that the hotel staff would be all that excited to see the one who had bought the room for use, ended up defacing it. He paused, turning around where he stood. There was someone there, so he pulled out his knife and unsheathed it. He knew he really didn't make that much of an intimidating picture, but he had to try.

A sound came from behind him, and he whipped around, gripping the handle of the knife tightly in his hand. His nails dug into the soft leather of the handle, body tense as he waited for another sound. It never came. He sighed, looking around once more, starting to move again, but he kept the knife out.

From behind he was grabbed and bitten on the shoulder, and his hand flipped the blade, plunging it deep into the side of his attacker. It let go of him, and he spun around, using his free hand to touch at the wound. He kept his eyes on the monster and grumbled, seeing the thick redness of the blood stain his fingers.

Great, more vampires. He was about to run at the vampire in front of him when he was grabbed once again, and thrown against the stone surface of one of the buildings.

"Are you okay?" He heard one of the vampires ask the other, and Ryou could see it clinging onto the other. There was blood on the ground, and the vampire was trying desperately to cover the wound with its hands.

"The... the bastard stabbed me..." It hissed out as an answer, as Ryou gripped onto the wall, standing up. He was grabbed once more and pushed into the wall, a pair of glowing red eyes glaring at him from under a mop of messy brown hair. No one he'd ever seen before.

"What did you do to her?" He growled at Ryou, as he could hear the sounds of retching behind the monster. Ryou flicked his wrist, slashing the vampire at the abdomen with his knife, causing him to move backwards in surprise. Ryou landed on the balls of his feet, stabbing the blade deep into the monster shoulder. It was pulled out when the vampire ran; grabbing its 'girl' and running back into the shadows were it came from.

Ryou would have followed, but due to the circumstances, he wasn't very well equipped to go chasing them down just to find a nest. He sighed, feeling at the bite again. He gave a groan, trudging his way back towards the hotel. At least it was late enough at night for him just to be able to slip into the room without much notice.

After about ten or so more minutes, he finally arrived back at the hotel. He stood in front of the door to his hotel room, and leaned forward. His head banged against the wood surface, and he grabbed the doorknob, pushing the door open. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Leaning against the inside of the door, he slowly slid down until he sat on the tacky hotel carpeting, and let out a noise of disgust.

At least the room wasn't a mess. In fact, nothing had changed about the room at all. The demon was laying on his back on one of the beds, head hanging off the edge of the bed as he stared at the ceiling. Mariku had even changed his clothing, which Ryou thought he wasn't necessarily going to do. He now wore a black wife-beater, which was tucked into a pair of khaki pants. Its eyes moved to look at Ryou, giving an impression of amusement.

"Did you have fun without me?" Mariku questioned with a smirk on his face as he rolled around on the bed, his hair still a wild mess. Ryou glared up at him. "I suppose not, then." The demon sat up on the bed slowly, letting out a huff. "Human. I'm bored." It explained, flicking his eyes back towards the human.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Ryou asked, raising a brow. He was in no mood to deal with this. His eyes flicked to the back of the hotel room and he let out a groan of displeasure. He was certain he was hallucinating at this point, as a large portal of sorts had opened up from the woodwork. Large black hands, looking like they were covered with some kind of oil, had begun to claw at the carpet and the walls, coating them in a liquid which shimmered when a faint red hue when the dim lamp light hit it. Ryou quickly pulled his legs and arms up, shoving his face into them so he didn't have to look at it. This is the exact opposite from what he wanted. Not to mention the fact his head was now killing him. He squeezed his eyes shut until the pain passed.

When he raised his head he jumped, as the demon was now extremely close to him, glaring him down. Unfortunately the 'portal' was still there, and Ryou sighed. The demon just sat there, glaring him down, he didn't even blink. Which Ryou thought was odd. It was still a human body, after all. Then something seemed to snap into place in his head, and in the moment of clarity, Ryou stood up. He made his way over to where he kept his supplies, unzipping the bag and pulling out several things. He tossed a rather dangerous looking blade that belonged to Malik over to the demon, which it caught with a surprising amount of dexterity.

"Fine, we'll go do something."

* * *

He really didn't know why he decided to hunt down those vampires, who had attacked him earlier, but he really didn't care. It made the demon shut up, and it gave him something to do instead of staring into that portal back in the hotel room. He had gone back to where he had been attacked; following the bloodstains of the one he had stabbed through the stomach. He frowned, touching at the bite yet again, and it made him think. Why had that one who had bit him begun to retch like that? Was there something wrong with him? He paused; there was something ahead.

In front of them was a small shack, probably once used for something; more then likely used for drug deals now more than anything. His back moved against the wall as he saw someone come out of the shack, the one who had thrown him onto the wall earlier. His eyes shifted back towards the demon, which stood still. He had told Mariku, or whatever his name was, how to kill vampires. Usually it was through beheading them, but just stabbing them through the skull would work just as well. He also had his pistol, which had a silencer - though as illegal as it was - would work if need be. Ryou was glad that before coming here, Malik had suggested to get some through Mai. Guns were loud, and brought attention to areas; something that he and Malik desperately wanted to avoid.

"Stay here." Ryou ordered, slipping around the back of the shack. He wanted some answers, and though he might not get any, he might as well try. He looked around the back, and pulled back a rotten board, making a face as it crumbled slightly in his hands. He snuck into the shack, seeing the vampire that attacked him, lying on her side. She looked... bad, deathly ill, even. Vampires usually just looked like humans, and for one to look this bad, Ryou had no idea what could have happened. Surely the wound he inflicted didn't cause this? He walked over, placing his hand over the vampires' mouth. Her eyes opened wide with shock and she looked like she was going to scream if she was not so weak.

"Shh. Please." He said in hushed tones. "I just want to ask a question, that's all. I'll leave then, okay?" She nodded slightly, and he removed his hand. "Thank you." He said. "Why are you so sick?" He asked; looking around to make sure her partner wasn't going to come back. She sat up slowly, holding onto her side, which had stopped bleeding at this point. She motioned for him to move forward, and he did so. She spoke very softly, and he almost didn't catch what she had said.

Just as she finished, there was a scream of pain from outside, and the vampires eyes widened in fear. Ryou backed away. That had been the other one, hadn't it? What the hell had the demon done? In a matter of seconds, the female vampire was on him, trying to claw at his throat. Ryou was pushed onto the ground, and he kicked at her midsection, pushing her away and reopening the wound. She hissed, on all fours as she dug her fingers into the soft earth. Ryou pulled out his knife, bracing himself for the second attack.

She flung herself at him, and he slashed at her, his arm trying to move as precise as it could within the small confines of the shack. It sliced her on the upper arm and around the neck, causing her to choke for a moment grab at her neck. This action allowed Ryou to move and plunge the knife into her forehead, growling as he sat on the body and pushed, wincing at the pained cries coming form the body below him. This wasn't what he wanted to happen in the least. He pulled the knife out, holding back a gag as it made a sickening squelch when it was removed.

He rushed out of the shack to see the demon sitting on top of the other vampire, quiet as could be. There was an unseemly amount of blood on the ground, and Ryou slowly walked forward, taken aback by what he saw.

The demon had thoroughly removed the vampires' tongue, which explained the lack of sounds that came from him. The demon laughed quietly as it dragged a knife slowly up, up, up the vampires cheek and down into the eye socket, with a slow, deliberate motion. The vampires face was decorated in small lacerations, which the demon took pleasure in sinking its nails into. Mariku jumped back when there was suddenly a hole in the vampires' skull, and it stopped moving completely. Ryou's hand was shaking as he tried to steady his pistol arm, breathing heavily.

The demon spun around, glaring at who had decided to ruin his 'fun'. His mouth set in a snarl. Ryou flipped the pistol around, smacking the demon as hard as he could in the back of the skull with it.

"That wasn't needed, demon." He hissed, completely enraged. The demon just gave a smirk and a chuckle, rising from the body.

"I got bored."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Sorry for the long wait, I had exams to study for and a lot was going on, and still is. Though summer is here, so I assume I will have more time to hide up in my room and write.

And I know it's kind of short, I apologize. Please review, though! It means a lot!

* * *

Ryou's hand was still shaking, and he was now pointing the gun at the demon. His finger was poised on the trigger, taking a step back as the demon rose from the dead body. It smirked, walking towards the hunter. Ryou stepped further back the closer Mariku got, his back eventually colliding with a high wooden fence. Ryou's arms came close to his person, the demon walking within arms reach.

"You wouldn't _dare_ shoot your friend, would you?" Mariku tilted his head, reaching an arm out to slowly slide a finger down the top of the gun. He suddenly grabbed Ryou's wrist, twisting it so the gun was pointing in a different direction. His hand was still on the pale ones wrist as he leaned forward, staring down into terrified brown eyes. Mariku's free hand reached out to softly cup Ryou's cheek, bringing the pale face closer.

"No... I..." Ryou murmured quietly, his shaking slowly getting worse. The demons nails dug into Ryou's jaw, making him flinch away; Mariku gave a chuckle.

"You're a nasty liar, human." The demon purred into the others ear. "How many people have you _killed_ before, simply for just being hosts to my kind?" A tongue came out and licked a pale cheek. "What makes this one so different?" Mariku chuckled as he saw the other freeze, the gun slipping from the pale fingers and clattering to the ground; fortunately it did not go off. The demon pulled back from the humans face, giving a small smirk. He paused.

Ryou was looking off into the distance, though the look of fear was still very obvious on his face. Mariku turned around, expecting to see something, anything.

There was nothing but the empty lot, and the dead body of the vampire. The demons' blonde eyebrow rose in confusion, turning back to the hunter, wanting some kind of explanation. Ryou stood still, his eyes locked on to empty space, glazed with fear as it were. He looked more like a deer in headlights than anything else. Mariku growled, waving his hand in front of Ryou's face, digging his nails into the hunters' wrist. Wanting to get some sort of reaction out of the other. He grabbed the human and yanked him off of the wall, throwing him towards the ground. Still no sound escaped from Ryou. The demon growled loudly, stalking over towards the hunter.

The paler ones lips were moving slightly, and Mariku grabbed Ryou up by his collar, bringing him closer to hear what he was mumbling about.

"No, Amane..." He murmured, gazing off into the distance. "No, I'm so sorry..." The demon narrowed his lilac eyes for a second before giving a small chuckle. The poor bastard was hallucinating.

"That's right, isn't it..." He trailed off, still holding Ryou up. One of his hands moved towards Ryou's left hand, pulling it up closer for inspection. He furrowed his brow, holding the hand by the wrist. The area around the cut seemed to be covered with small, black webs. A faint chuckle filtered through the empty air. "You really are stupid, aren't you?" He growled, digging his fingernails into Ryou's wrist. The hunter was silent at this, sliding his eyes shut as he bit on the inside of his cheek. The hand that was being held twisted out of the demons grasp, being held close to Ryou's person. He lay there on the ground, shaking slightly as the horrid visions passed.

The demon cursed as Ryou swept his leg out and kicked Mariku in the back of the knees, causing him to fall over onto his back. Though unsteady, the young hunter quickly sat on top of the demon, punching him violently in the jaw. With the taste of blood filling his mouth, the demon growled loudly and grabbed Ryou's wrists, leaning forward. He glared into the dark brown eyes of the hunter, narrowed in a mix of rage, and fear, dark bags easily seen underneath his eyes.

"Attack me again, human." He hissed, bringing the pale face closer to his own. "You might have me in a pact, but that doesn't mean I can't hurt you." His nails dug back into Ryou's wrists, cracking a grin when the human flinched back.

"You're lying." He spat, trying to wretch his wrists away.

"Am I?" He snickered, leaning in closer, wanting to _feel_ the fear coming off of the hunter. "Everything I've said up to this point was true." His tongue lolled out of his mouth, coming ever closer to the human. "I can hurt you all I want, I just can't _kill _you." He trailed his tongue up the side of Ryou's neck, noting the small sound he let out at this. The human tensed on top of him, and the demon bit his neck hard enough to draw blood.

"Let go!" He ordered, letting out a gasp when the demon started to suck at the bite, shoving his tongue into the wound. He pulled his hands back, growling when the demons hands slid from his arms and down his back, pushing him against Mariku no matter how hard he struggled. A soft moan made itself known when Mariku bit down once again, drinking from him like the vampires had tried to do. "No..." He whined, trying to pull away.

The demon left his neck alone for a moment, allowing Ryou to press his hands against the bite. His fingers were automatically slicked with his blood, and he hissed when Mariku suddenly grabbed his chin. "Your face is red." He stated simply, dragging his blooded tongue against his cheek. "You're into this kind of stuff, then?" He chuckled, biting at Ryou's ear.

"What...?" He gasped, shivering lightly. "What are you doing to me?" He didn't mean the biting; it felt like something - something important, was beginning to slip in the back of his mind. The demon simply let out another laugh.

"You really don't know anything, do you?" One of the tanned hands slid downwards and grabbed Ryou by the left wrist, rising up to show the human just what he was getting into. "You might think the pact protects you, but all you've been doing is exposing yourself to my power." Ryou stared at the blackened veins and skin, a cold knot forming in his gut.

"What..." He stared at it, dumbfounded. This hadn't happened the other time. Then again, the other time was only a few hours, at most...

"Get it now?" Mariku's fingers tightened their grip on Ryou's chin, pulling him closer. "You've already lost, and we haven't even started playing." A dark smirk ran across his features after saying this. He leaned forward, smashing their lips together. He forced his horrid tongue inside of Ryou's mouth, and the hunter felt the demons power slowly wash over him.

* * *

At some point, they ended up going back to the hotel.

The amount of shame Ryou felt at that moment couldn't be described, even if he tried to.

His body was splattered with his own blood, and every time he tried to move, a searing pain would shoot up his back. He held out his left hand, glaring at the skin that had darkened. The spot seemed to have grown larger as well, leaving Ryou with an overwhelming sense of worry. A sharp pain suddenly erupted from his palm, causing him to jerk forward, nearly hitting his head on the spout on the tub.

"Fuck!" He growled, his forehead resting against the cool surface of the tub. He cradled his hand against his bloodied and bite mark covered chest. The pain intensified as it shot up his arm, paralyzing him as he knelt there, shaking.

He began to violently cough, adding to the pain that spread throughout his body. Ryou bit his tongue as bile formed in his throat, feeling the warm fluid against his tongue and the back of his teeth. Spitting it out, the black, sticky fluid ran slowly down his chin, and more began to rise up from his throat.

Wiping the inky fluid off of his chin with the back of his right hand, he grabbed his neck and retched, more of it spilling out of him. It continued to surge up out of his mouth, quickly coating the bottom of the tub and blocking off the drain. His nails dug into the skin of his neck, closing his mouth as more came up, pushing past his lips.

Jumping out of the tub he haphazardly made his way to the sink, the dark liquid splotching the tile and rug on his way. His knuckles turned white as he clung to the sink, spitting out the fluid and coughing loudly. He turned the faucet on, trying to wash away some of it, spitting into the sink as it slowly subsided.

"Augh..." He groaned quietly as he wiped his mouth yet again, smearing it across his face by accident.

_"Don't do that."_

Ryou whipped around at the voice, fearing that the demon had been able to make his way into the bathroom. His eyes scoured the small room, making a disgusted face at the stains he had caused.

_"You're an idiot."_ The voice spoke again, and Ryou slowly turned, coming face to face with the figure that spoke to him within the hotel mirror. It looked for all the world just like him, save for the dark, demonic eyes and the menacing smirk plastered on its face.

His hand moved against his will, slowly up to his face and placed a few fingers in the grime. It was cold to the touch, vastly unlike how it was a few moments ago.

_"You're going to die."_ The figure said simply, and Ryou watched with a morbid curiosity as it moved its hand, and his, down to his neck. Making a small X on Ryou's throat, its smirk widened into a full crazed grin, a purr coming from its mouth. _"Do you know how?"_

Ryou took a moment to let this sink in, before shaking his head. He was frozen in place as the figure began to leisurely climb out of the mirror, the dark grin never leaving his face for a moment. It grabbed onto his face, pulling him close as he hissed. He tried to pull away, completely terrified. The entity only laughed, as the droplets of the fluid had expanded and slowly started to climb up Ryou's legs, keeping him in that single spot.

Its fingers slipped lower, seemingly crushing Ryou's windpipe in its vice-like grip. He was forced onto his knees; the ooze had morphed into something akin to shadows, quickly strangling the rest of Ryou's body.

_"You'll figure it out, when it happens."_ It cackled, digging its sharp claws deep into his neck. He could feel the skin breaking, the muscle underneath being torn apart by its hands. Ryou closed his eyes, his mouth moving rapidly as if trying to spit out sounds he couldn't produce at the moment. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, shaking violently as the pain overtook him.

Ryou didn't realize he was screaming.

His fist had collided with the mirror, and it was now fractured and bloody. He stood there, panting, using his other hand to softly feel at his neck.

His knees gave up on him, and he fell onto the floor, his bloodied hand staining the rug. The unfamiliar sensation of tears stung his eyes, and he flinched when they slid down his face. His wounded hand brushed at the wetness on his cheek, pulling it back just to stare at his fingertips.

And oddly enough...

He started to laugh.


End file.
